Unions and Local Groups Join To Form a New Political Party

By ABBY GOODNOUGH

Published: July 7, 1998

A coalition of labor unions and community groups announced yesterday that it was forming a new political party that it hoped would prod Democratic candidates to pay more attention to the organizations' needs.

Leaders of the group, known as the Working Families Party, said they were not cutting ties with the Democratic Party but were trying to stop what they described as its recent drift toward a more conservative agenda.

They endorsed Peter F. Vallone, the Speaker of the New York City Council, who is a Democratic candidate for governor, saying that he cared about working-class families more than the other Democrats who want to unseat Gov. George E. Pataki, the Republican incumbent, this fall.

But leaders of the new party also said they were endorsing Mr. Vallone for a more tactical reason: because they think that he is the only candidate in the race for governor who can draw 50,000 votes on the Working Family Party's line, which would allow the party to meet the legal requirement for it to retain a place on the ballot in the next election.

''We think that Peter's record is a good one,'' said Bob Master, political director for the New York region of the Communications Workers of America, which led the effort to create the party. ''But there is no question that there is also a practical consideration here, which is that we need to back someone who can win the primary and help us stay on the ballot.''

Since the new party is supporting Mr. Vallone rather than bringing a new candidate into the mix, it will probably have little effect on the Democratic primary, which is in September. But by supporting a candidate whom it considers likely to receive the required 50,000 votes on its line, the party might draw enough attention to itself to become a force in future elections.

Still, before the party can get on this year's primary ballot, its leaders will need to collect 15,000 signatures, and Mr. Master of the C.W.A. said the party would begin doing so immediately. He said the unions that had joined the party had at least 200,000 members and that some of those members would help with the petition drive.

Mr. Master added that the party -- which also endorsed State Senator Catherine M. Abate, a Democrat, for state attorney general -- would not be endorsing a candidate for the United States Senate because leaders of the various unions could not agree on one.

Leaders of the new party said they also hoped to weaken the influence of the Liberal Party, which is supporting Lieut. Gov. Betsy McCaughey Ross, who switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party last year. Labor unions and other traditionally left-leaning groups have been increasingly disenchanted with the Liberal Party since 1989, when it began supporting Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

''It seems like it's been a long time since the Liberal Party has really stood for anything,'' Mr. Master said. ''And obviously the Liberal Party has a lot to lose if we emerge with a lot more votes than they do in November.''

But Raymond B. Harding, the longtime leader of the Liberal Party in New York, said the emergence of the Working Families Party was by no means a ''cataclysmic event.'' Mr. Harding said he did not think the new party would hurt the candidacy of Ms. McCaughey Ross because many working-class voters still support candidates running on the Liberal line.

''If anyone understands what is in the minds of working families, it's the Liberal Party,'' Mr. Harding said. ''It's the working families of New York City that elected and re-elected Rudy Giuliani.''

Photo: Signs were carried by some who turned out yesterday on the steps of City Hall as the forming of the Working Families Party was announced. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times)